


13x17 coda

by Otrera



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Episode: s13e17 The Thing, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Season/Series 13 Spoilers, There's no plot, just hurt/comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-10
Updated: 2018-04-10
Packaged: 2019-04-21 02:42:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14275161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Otrera/pseuds/Otrera
Summary: What happens after Dean and Ketch go to bizarro world, and Sam is left alone with Gabriel.





	13x17 coda

Sam only let himself stare at the portal Dean and Ketch walked through for a few minutes before he turned away.

“Okay,” he said, louder than was necessary. Gabriel flinched. “Sorry,” said Sam. He resumed his seat in front of Gabriel and picked the tweezers back up. “I'm just gonna pull the threads out, okay?”

Gabriel said nothing, just breathed quick through his nose and darted his gaze between Sam and the floor.

Blood oozed slowly from the puckered holes around his lips as Sam pulled the cut threads from them. Gabriel let out a few pained whimpers, but held relatively still while Sam worked. Finally, he pulled out the last thread and set the tweezers aside.

“I’m going to get some stuff to wash out your wounds,” Sam told him. “Just stay right here.”

He gathered an old washcloth, some rubbing alcohol, and a bottle of painkillers. Gabriel was still sitting exactly where he left him.

“Do you want to take some of these?” Sam held up the painkillers. Gabriel eyed it warily and didn’t answer. Sam unscrewed the cap and poured two pills into his hand. “Here.”

Gabriel snatched them out of his hand and swallowed them quicker than Sam expected.

“Great,” said Sam. He poured some of the rubbing alcohol onto the washcloth and held it up for Gabriel to see. “I’m going to clean your lips now, all right?”

Gabriel was fine until the second Sam touched the washcloth to his lips. He shoved himself as far away from Sam as he could. He was yelling, too, but his throat was so raw and sore that it sounded like sandpaper on wood.

“Hey, shh, calm down.” Sam dropped the washcloth and held up his hands. “Shh, I’m sorry, I know it hurts.”

Gabriel’s yelling petered out. He was breathing hard, pressing against the back of the chair like he wanted it to absorb him. He hid his face with his arms, although he kept Sam’s face in sight through a tiny opening.

Sam leaned forward, careful not to move quickly or say anything frightening. “I promise I won’t hurt you.” He held out his hand a few inches away from Gabriel. “Can you touch my hand? So I can show you?”

Gabriel stared at him through wild eyes. Sam didn’t move. Gingerly, Gabriel unwound his arms and rested his left hand in Sam’s right, palm to palm. Trying his best not to spook him, Sam loosely wrapped his fingers around Gabriel’s so his thumb rested against the back of Gabriel’s hand. He stroked his thumb over the skin as gently as he could.

He kept his voice soft. “See? I don’t want to hurt you. It was an accident.” Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. “Do you want to try again?”

Gabriel shook his head vigorously, then tried to jerk away like he expected retribution. Sam’s fingers tightened instinctively around Gabriel’s, but then he let go. “That’s okay. We can call Cas. Do you - do you remember Castiel?”

Ever so slightly, Gabriel nodded.

“Awesome. He can heal you when he gets here. I’m going to call him now, okay?”

He pulled out his phone and hit speed dial two. It rang several times before Cas picked up.

“Hello, Sam.”

“Hey, Cas. We, uh, we found the Seal of Solomon.”

“You did? Where was it?”

“An old Men of Letters outpost.”

“That’s amazing! I’ll be back at the bunker as soon as possible. Have you found a way to get archangel grace?”

“Uh…” Sam glanced at Gabriel. “That’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you about. Get back as fast as you can, okay? It’s important.”

* * *

 

Cas was not happy about Dean going to the apocalypse world by himself. 

“He’s with Ketch,” Sam offered.

Cas rolled his eyes. “Right, because that makes it _so_ much better.”

Sam stopped in front of one of the doors. “Look, man, I’m upset too, but we can’t do anything about it right now.”

Cas sighed. “I know. I just wish he wouldn’t be so reckless.”

Sam snorted. “You and me both.” He grew serious. “But we _can_ help Gabriel. Or we can try to, at least.”

Cas lowered his voice. “How is he?”

“He’s… he’s pretty bad,” Sam admitted. “I tried to clean his wounds, but he freaked out. I’m not sure if he knows who I am.” He put his hand on the doorknob. “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

Sam opened the door. “Gabriel? It’s Sam. Cas is with me.”

Cas followed Sam into the room. Gabriel was sitting against the headboard and the nightstand of the bed. His eyes tracked them as they moved closer. He didn’t blink once.

“Hello, brother,” Cas said quietly. “Do you remember me?”

Gabriel didn’t answer.

“He’s here to heal you,” said Sam. “Is it okay if he touches you?”

Cas ventured closer and sat gingerly on the edge of the bed near Gabriel.

“Hold your hand out,” Sam suggested. “Like this.” He held out his own hand, palm up. Cas copied him.

Like he had done with Sam, Gabriel slowly reached out and rested his hand on top of Cas’.

Cas smiled at him. “Does this mean I have permission to heal you?”

“Try. If he gets uncomfortable, we can stop.”

Cas gently withdrew his hand from Gabriel’s and rested it against his forehead. Gabriel flinched, but Cas was quick to reassure him with soft, gentle sounds. Gabriel’s wounds started knitting themselves back together. The longer Cas held his hand in place, though, the deeper his frown got.

“What’s wrong?”

Cas dropped his hand back down to his side. “I can’t heal some of his wounds. They appear to have been made by a very powerful weapon.”

“The archangel blade,” Sam murmured. “Is there another way to heal them?”

Cas shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know. There might not be. They might heal on their own.”

“Could it be like when you got stabbed with Michael’s spear? Do you think they’ll heal if we break the blade?”

“Maybe, but the archangel blade will not be as easy to break. I don’t even know if it can break.”

They both looked at Gabriel. He had pressed himself against the headboard again.

“I’ll start cleaning him up, get him some clean clothes,” said Sam.

“I will start researching,” said Cas. He stood and left the room, patting Sam’s arm as he did so.

Sam looked at Gabriel. “Let’s get you cleaned up, okay? I think we still have some of Kevin’s old clothes.”


End file.
